Fluid-treating apparatus



250-201 AU 252 EX FIPBZIZ XR 1,895,760

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Jan. 31, 1933. F. 1.. HUNT 1,895,760

- FLUID TREATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 28. 1931 gtgX/l/AISY EA N EOUPMENT ssrsml TgTP/P /9 I 9 OJ O 9 LEVEL or H 13 l4 l5 l6 MATH/AL CONSTANT/33 mam/vs FLU/D OVER" SPA-0 -H MOTOR :1 j //w.r FOR FRESH 3 1 MATERIAL men rbnulo 1 CONSTANT s a-0 MOTOR AUXILIARY /7 a TREA TING E OU/PME' N T MATERIAL TREATING rLu/o OVER IN VE N TOR HUNT ATTORNEY Patented 31, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE You raw 'mm. annexes 'ro BILL reunion mnonaronm, mcoaroasm, or m 1031, II. 1..

A (DBIOELTIOI O! m nuIn-rm'rme mums uses fled January a, an. lerlal Ia. nmaa.

signed to admit fresh-fluid to the treating This invention relates to fluid-treating apparatus and is particularly useful 1n connection with the development of photographic films in the form long strips.

5 It is the object of this invention to provide a means for automatically correcting for the injurious effect of exhaustion of the materialtreating fluid.

A feature of the invention is a means for automatically controlling the rate of travel of the strip being treated or the rejection and admission of material-treating; fluid in accordance with the condition 0 such fluid by providing in a control circuit a light sensitive device to receive light waves pro ted throtgg a strip of material which has n subjec to the uid in use.

In photographic development work it is necemary to maintain a careful control of the conditions of development at all times.

This control of conditions is extremely necessary in connection with the development of sound development on sound quality. It is well known that the uniform development of\-a le h of film for a constant rate of movement of e film through the developer is dzple ndent upon -the activity of such developer oughout ,the time of travel of the film therethrough. A reduction in the of the developin solution causes a reduction in the density o the developed film which has been uniforml to a constaiit printing light. 0 compensate for this reduction in the activity of the developer, it is necessary to increase the time of development by decreasing the rate of travel of the film through the developer. Another method is to change the developing solution .in accordance with the reduction of its activity.- To insure perfect operation in either of the above methods, some means must be provided for continuously testing the condition of the developing solution in use.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention, applicant provides a system in which the material-treating fluid is at all times under test and any change in the condition of such fluid automatically eflects a control circuit for mechanism dethe stri film because of the efiect of improper sitive device depends u Inpccordatnce with another embodiment of this mventlon a system is provided in which a change in the condition of the materialtreat ng fluid automatically eflects a control crrcmt designed to govern the rate at which material is being passed through the flui More specifically, an test film is drawn at constant past an exposure w ndow illuminated by constant light which gives the film a definite and uniform exure. The test film is then developed for a definite time in the same develo used in the main apparatus, then in front of a window illuminated by a constant light source. Onthesideofthefilmo positethe constantlightsourceislocated a tsensitive device which is connected in a control circuit for film speed control mechanisms or mechanismada tedtoregulatetheadmis sion of the dev oper to the main a paratus. The quantity of light reaching the ht senthe transmission pod test film. If the of the and dev strength of the developing solution begins to weaken, the on of the film will bet will reach the come greater and more light sensitive device whi in turn, controls mechanism to correct for the exhaustion of such developer.

Thefimeoftreatmentoftheteststripmay th eatrnent f th co to the til ag o eregular pammg the material-treating fluid tank.

In the Fig.1isan' ustrationpartlyachematic and partly tic of means to 'con thetreahnentofastnpofmaterialthrough the eontrlpl gfbythe of t ui a 'p run a co rough such fluid;

5% dt m mit f h an y a 0 means controltherateo travel ofastripthrougha a test tank of material-treating fluid at a corresponding rate m Inbothfiguresthenumeralldtank containing material-treating fluid. In each case an agitator 2 run by any appropriate means is provided to keep t e material-treating fluid properly stirred so that its quality will be the same in every part of the tank. In each figure a motor 3 is employed to rotate a shaft 4 to, in turn, actuate mechanism for passing a material strip 5 through the material-treating fluid in tank 1. The untreated strip in each case is stored on a reel 6 and passed from there into the tank 1 and from thence through an auxiliary treating equipment 7 onto a reel 8. In Fig. 1 the motor 3 is of such character as to maintain a constant In both figuresa shaft 9 is used to actuate the mechanism for passing a test stritiof material through the fluid-treating tan The untreated test strip is stored on a reel 10 and thence passed into an auxiliary tank 11 which by means of ports 12 and 13 is maintained full of the same material-treating fluid that is contained in the tank 1. After the test stri has been passed through the auxiliary tan 11, it is passed through a series of other small tanks, such as 14, and 16, where it is further treated before it passes through the control chamber and thence to the storing reel 17.

In the case of a photographic film the tank 14 may contain water for washing the film, the tank 15 may contain a fixing solution and the tank 16 may contain water for finally washing the film. Since the test strip has no purpose other than to afford a test, the final washing tank 16 may be dis ensed with in order to reduce the time lag tween the development of the film and the test thereof.

It is also quite possible to omit all other treatment of the strip other than that which it receives in the tank 11 in which case the time lag between treatment of the strip and lated shutter to give test of the strip will be reduced to a minimum.

As the test strip 18 passes into the treating tank from the reel 10 it is passed before awindow 20 behind which is a constant source of light 19. Thus the test strip 18 moving at a constant rate before a constant source of light is uniformly prepared. This is literally true in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 and approximately true in the arrangement shown in Fig. 2. While it is a simple matter to regulate the opening 20 by a speed reguabsolute uniformity to the treatment of the strip in the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, it is not necessary to show such an arrangement because the rate of passage of the strip before the opening 20 may be made a very minor factor in the rate of treatment of the test strip.

As the test strip 18 now passes out from the treatin tank it moves past a window 21 through w 'ch a ray of li ht from a constant source 19 is projected t rough the strip onto a light sensitive device 22. The constant source of light for the two functions of preparirtiii the strip as it passes into the treating ta and for testing the treatment as the strip emerges from the treating tank, may be arranged as shown in the drawings, that is, a sing e source of light may be employed or if it is found more convenient, separate sources may be used.

In each case the light sensitive device is connected through an appropriate amplifier 23 to a winding 24 in Fig. 1 and 25 in Fig. 2. In the case of Fig. 1 the winding 24 18 that of a relay which controls over its front and back contacts two solenoids 26 and 27. As the material-treating fluid in tank 1 and in auxiliary tank 11 becomes exhausted the treatment of the test strip becomes altered and this affects the light sensitive device 22 to such an extent that relay 24 moves its armature to its front contact. This causes the energization of solenoid 26 whereupon the valve lever 28 is moved toward the left, thus opening the valve 29 to admit fresh material-treating fluid to the tank 1. The partially exhausted fluid which is thus replaced is carried off by the overflow pipe 30' which is placed at the opposite end of the tank 1. As the material-treating fluid is thus brought back to normal the treatment of the test strip becomes normal and the light sensitive dev1ce 22 is correspondingly eflected and thereupon allows relay 24 to move its armature to its back contact. Solenoid 27 thereupon becomes energized and when the valve lever is then returned to the position shown where the supply of fresh material-treating fluid is cut off the circuit for solenoid 27 is opened by contacts 31 and 32.

Thus, the quality of the material-treating fluid in tank 1 may be constantly tested and automatically altered.

In the arrangement shown in Fi 1 the shaft 9 is moved by a constant spee motor 33 and since the shaft 4 is also moved by a constant speed motor, it will be recognized that the rate of movement of .the test strip 18 through the material-treating fluid is proportional to the rate of movement of the main strip 5 through the material-treatin fluid.

In the arran ement shown in ig. 2 a sprocket 34 on t e shaft 4, actuates a chain 35 to move shaft 9 by means of a sprocket 36 attached thereto. Thus, in this arrangement also the rate of movement of the test strip 18 is proportional to the rate of movement of the main strip 5.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, the coil 25 is part of a voltmeter type relay, or in other words, a very sensitive polarized relay. The armature controls over its right hand contacts the relays 37 and 38. These relays connect a source of direct current in different manners to a motor 39 which will correspondingly rotate in diflerent directions.

When the material-treating fluid in tank 1 energized 40 towardthe right and the field strength of theshuntmotorwillbeincreasedtocause such motor to run slower. In this manner as the material-treating fluid becomes weak er the strips pasing therethrough are slowed down to 've them a longer period of treatment. In the test strip shows that the proper rate of treatment has been attained the rela 25 moves its armature to a midpoint ere neither relay 37 nor 38 is energized and this condition is maintained until the test strip indicates that a further change inrate oftreatmentisnecessary Wliat is is 1. n a otograp 'c-treating apparatus, a a tank containing a photographic-treating fluid, continuous motion means for a photographic film through said flui a test film a redetermined uniform exure, means or pasing said test film pos through said fluid, means for maintaining the rate of the speed of said last means proportional to the speed of said continuous motion means, whereby said photographic film passing through said fluid and said test film through said fluid are correspondingly treated, means for testing the treatment of said test film and means nsive thefreto flor altering the rgfiof treatment sai o p is passi 3 thro h said fluid. toga n8 2. a photographic-treating apparatus, a tank containing a photographic-treating fluid, continuous motion means for a photofira hically sensitized materia thmu h said uid: a test strip of Fhotographi y sensitized material, means or a umform exposure to said test strip means for passing said test strip through said fluid means for maintaining the rate of speed of said last means proportional to the speed of aid continhiigpfi motionizedmeans y said otograp sensit ma passing through said fluid and said tat strip passing through said. fluid are correspondingly treated, means .for testing the treatment of said test strip and means nsive thereto for altering the condition of said photographicl i hi treating I tus, 3. a p otograp 'cappara a tank containing a photographic-treating fluid, continuous motion means for passing photographic strip material through sai uid, a test strip of photographic material, means for eifectmg a predetermined uniform exposure of said test strip, means for passing .said test strip through said fluid, means for maintaining the rate of speed of said last means proportional to the speed of said continuous motion means, whereby a strip of photographic material passing through said 0503s REFERENCE .motion means, whereby said treatment of EXAMlNER fluidandsaidteststri aslng' thro said fluid are correspondin gl treated, m fihs for tsting the treatment of said test strip and means responsive thereto for altering the speed of said continuous motion means, and said test strip moving means.

4. In a photograp ic-treating apparatus, a tank containing a photographic-treating fluid, continuous'motion means for photographic material through said fluid, a test strip of photographic material, means for exposing said test strip to a constant intensity light source, means for passing said test strip through said fluid, means for maintaining the rate of speed of said last means a proportional to the speed of said continuous hotographic material passing through said uid and said test strip passing through said fluid are correspondmgly treated, an electrical means for testing the treatment of said test strip and means responsive thereto for altering the rate of treatment of ghotegraphic material passing through said uid.

5. In a photographic-treating apparatus,

a tank containing a photographic-treating fluid, continuous motion means for assing a photographic film through said fluid, a test film of photographic material, means for passing said test film through said fluid," means for maintaining the rate of speed of said last means proportional to the speed of said continfilloliishiiotion meathri sggllilem fpaid p otograp 'c passing 881 uid and said test film passing through said fluidare correspondingly treated, an electrical means comprising a constant source of ht placed on one side of said treated test and a light sensitive device placed on the other. side of said treated test film for testing the treatment of said test film, and means responsive thereto for altering the rate of photographic film passing thro hsaidlflu d. In v 6. n a p otograp 'c-treatmg apparatus, a tank containing a photographic-treating fluid, continuous motion means for photographic strip material throug sai fluid, a test strip of photographic material, a constant intensity hght source, means for exposing said test strip to said constant light source, means for passing said test strip through said fluid, means for maintaining the rate of speed of said last means-proportional to the speed of said continuous motion means, whereby said ph aphic strip material passing through said uid and said test strip passing through said flmd are correspondmgly treated, a light sensitive device actuated by a light projected from a constant 125 source of light through said treated test strip for testing the treatment of said test strip, and means responsive thereto for altering the rate of treatment of hotographic strip material passing thro said fluid.

7. In a photographic-treating apparatus, a tank containing photographic-treating fluid, continuous motion means for passing a photographic film through said fluid, a test film, means for uniformly preparing said test film for treatment, means for passing said test film through said fluid, means for maintaining the rate of speed of said last means proportional to the speed of said continuous .motion means, whereby a photographic film treatment, means for passing said test stripthrough said fluid, means for maintaining the rate of speed of said last means proportional to the speed of said continuous motion means whereby said film passing through said fluid and said test film passing through said fluid are correspondingly treated, means for testing the treatment of said test film and means responsive thereto for altering the rate of treatment of said photographic-treating fluid.

. 9. In a photographic-treating apparatus, a tank containing photographic-treating fluid, continuous motion means for passing photographic strip material through said fluid, a test strip of photographic material, means for uniformly exposmg said test strip to a constant intensity light source means for passing said test strip through said fluid and means for maintaining the rate of speed of said last means proportional to the speed of said continuous motion means, whereby a strip of photographic material passing through said fluid and said test strip passing through said fluid are correspondingly treated, means for testing the treatment of said test strip, and means responsive thereto for altering the speed of said continuous motion means and said test strip moving means.

. 10. In a photographic-treating apparatus,

.a tank containing photographic-treating fluid, continuous motion means for passing a photographic film through said fluid, a test means for giving said test film a uniform exposure, means for passing said test film through said fluid, means for maintaining the rate of speed of said last means proportional to the speed of said continuous motion means, whereby said photographic film passing through said fluid and said test film passing through said fluid are correspondmgly treated, means for testing the treatment of said test film, and means responsive there- In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name, this 26th day of January 1931.

FRANKLIN L. HUNT. 

